USA > Indiana > Newton County > A standard history of Jasper and Newton counties, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume II > Part 25
USA > Indiana > Jasper County > A standard history of Jasper and Newton counties, Indiana : an authentic narrative of the past, with an extended survey of modern developments in the progress of town and country, Volume II > Part 25
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42
ALBERT P. STEPHENS. The name of Albert P. Stephens is familiar among the agriculturists of Newton County as belonging to one of its most industrious citizens and a man who possesses an excellent standing in business circles. He has been the architect of his own fortune, making his way in the world from a modest beginning to one of substantiality, and has proven a fine example of the results of a wise economy, patient industry and good judg- ment.
Mr. Stephens was born May 25, 1854, in Knox County, Illinois, near the Town of Abingdon, and is a son of Richard and Caroline M. (Adair) Stephens. His parents, of German and Irish descent, respectively, were born in Highland County, Ohio, and in 1852
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moved to Illinois, settling first in Knox County, from whence they moved to McLean County, in the same state. There they passed the remaining years of their lives in farming, and were among their community's well known and highly estecmed people. Albert P. Stephens was five years old when taken to McLean County, and there he grew to manhood, securing his education in the public schools. He was married in 1880 to Miss Elva Rathmann, daughter of William and Louisa (Kuntz) Rathmann, residents of McLean County, Illinois, of German descent, and to this union there has been born one daughter, Miss Alma L., who resides with her parents.
Mr. Stephens continued to be engaged in farming in McLean County with a fair degree of success until 1895, in the spring of which year he came to Newton County, Indiana, and settled on his present farm, located in section 25, Grant Township. Fairview Farm, as this property is known, is a tract of eighty acres, all in a high state of cultivation, and embellished with all needful farm buildings, not the least among which is Mr. Stephens' comfortable residence. General farming has been given the major part of his attention and a proper rotation of crops yields a handsome income, but he has also been engaged to some extent in stock raising, a department of farming activity in which he has also gained success.
Mr. Stephens casts his vote and influence in behalf of repub- lican principles, and at various times has served his community in official capacities, having been road supervisor for eight years and township trustee for six years. With his family, he attends the Baptist Church. By his habits of industry he has built up a good home for himself and family, and acquired a competence for his declining years. He is progressive in his ideas, liberal and public- spirited, and in noting his surroundings and the respect in which he is held in Grant Township, it must be admitted that he is the possessor of a large share of all that makes life desirable.
GEORGE ORMISTON. Among the honored citizens of Newton County who have retired from active pursuits after many years passed in agricultural operations, one who is a familiar figure at Goodland is George Ormiston, whose residence in this county covers a period of forty-five years. After conducting a large and valuable property of his own during many years, Mr. Ormiston became the superintendent of large and important outside interests, of which he was the overseer until 1912, when declining years caused him to surrender them to younger hands, and at the present time he is living quietly, enjoying the comforts that a life of industry has brought to him.
George Ormiston was born in County Selkirk, Scotland, Novem- ber 25, 1835, and there grew to manhood and received ordinary educational advantages. He had just attained his majority when he cmigrated to the United States, being possessed at that time of but little save his ambition and native determination and industry.
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He settled first at Hammond, St. Lawrence County, New York, but in May of the following year moved to Cuba, in the same state, and was variously employed until October, 1862, when he enlisted in the Twenty-eighth Independent Battery, New York Volunteer Light Artillery. Although this regiment saw some active fighting at the front and one time went as far south as South Carolina, the greater part of its service was confined to guarding New York, where it had some part in the suppression of the draft riots. En- listing as a private, Mr. Ormiston was promoted to sergeant of his company, and was acting in that capacity at the time of his honorable discharge at New York, July 30, 1865.
When he was mustered out of the service, Mr. Ormiston returned to Cuba, New York, and there resided until February, 1871, when he came to Newton County and took up his residence on the north- east quarter of section 35, in Iroquois Township, where he devel- oped a valuable and fertile farm, and where he resided until 1892. He still is the owner of 120 acres in Newton County, operated by a tenant. Elijah B. Hunter, a large landowner of Goodland, was taken care of by Mr. Ormiston for about six months, and when he died, in April, 1895, Mr. Ormiston became overseer of the six farms belonging to Mr. Hunter's widow. In 1912, owing to his advanced years, Mr. Ormiston decided to give up his active labors and at the present time he confines himself to looking after his investments and landed interests.
Mr. Ormiston was married February 5, 1873, to Miss Calista A. Watson, a daughter of Harvey and Effie (Miller) Watson, of Cuba, New York, and of Scotch-German descent. To this union there was born one son: Robert W., who lives with his parents and manages the Hunter estate ; he married Maggie Ewing and has one son, Leslie E., who is now three years of age. Mr. Ormiston is a republican, and while he has never sought public office, served for two years as a township supervisor while living in Iroquois Town- ship. He is a Presbyterian in his religious belief and for many years has been an elder in the church, while Mrs. Ormiston is an adherent of the Baptist faith. Mr. Ormiston has always been in favor of public improvements, and the old Ormiston Ditch was named in his honor because of his activities in promoting public-spirited movements, but the name has since been changed. His career has been one in which he has illustrated the ability through which men overcome early limitations, and the position of prominence and inde- pendence which he now occupies should prove an incentive to youths who are compelled to make their start in life in what they may consider discouraging circumstances.
THOMAS RAMSAY. An ever increasing prosperity has rewarded the efforts of Thomas Ramsay ever since his arrival in Newton County in 1885. To this community he brought an earnest purpose and strong physical equipment which had combined previous to this
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time to counteract in large degree the disadvantage of having had to enter upon his career without financial assistance and with only ordinary educational training. His labors in the vocations of farm- ing and stockraising were prosecuted with such vigor that in March. 1908, he was able to retire with a satisfying competence, all gained through his own efforts, and at the present time he is the owner of 360 acres of valuable land, in addition to having other interests.
Mr. Ramsay was born June 13, 1849, in Ayrshire, Scotland, within two miles of the birthplace of one of his present fellow- townsmen, John Cochrane, also a retired farmer. Mr. Ramsay was not quite twenty-one years of age when he arrived' in America, June 9, 1871, having secured a public school education in his native land, and his first place of residence was the City of Chicago. On October 9th of the same year occurred the great conflagration which practically destroyed the Illinois metropolis and the story of which has passed into history, and Mr. Ramsay passed through the ex- citing experiences incident to the fire and was employed in various capacities in assisting to rebuild the city. After four years at Chi- cago, in 1875 he moved with his parents, William and Susannah (Armour) Ramsay, who had come to America in the fall of 1874, to Indiana, settling northwest of Monon, in White County. After two years there the family moved four miles north of Remington, where they spent one year, and subsequently went to Union Town- ship, Benton County, where they spent three years on the farm of James E. Watts. Both parents passed away in White County.
On leaving Benton County, Mr. Ramsay came to Jasper County and spent four years in Carpenter Township, and in 1885 moved to Grant Township, Newton County, where he made his home until the time of his retirement. His start as an agriculturist was not an auspicious one, as he had but little capital, but, with the able assist- ance of his faithful and devoted wife, he was soon started on the highroad of success, and as the years passed he accumulated more and more land and eventually became one of the substantial men of his community. He is the owner of a well-developed property of 360 acres, on which are improvements of a modern character, a farm which stands as a monument to his ability and perseverance. Mr. Ramsay is a stockholder in the First National Bank of Good- land and has other interests.
In June, 1876, while living in White County, Mr. Ramsay was married at Monticello to Miss Margaret Mccullough, who was born in the North of Ireland, of Scotch descent, and was brought to America when a young lady by her parents, both of whom passed their last years near Londonderry, Ireland. Mr. and Mrs. Ramsay have no children. They are faithful members and generous sup- porters of the Presbyterian Church, and were contributors to the fund which was raised to build the church of this denomination at Goodland. They reside in their comfortable home at Goodland, where they are enjoying the fruits of their years of useful and
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honest toil, and have the respect and regard of their neighbors and numerous friends and acquaintances. While Mr. Ramsay has been a supporter of the republican party, he has never sought public office, nor has he joined secret or other orders. His life has been passed quietly and contentedly as an agriculturist and in the pro- motion of the movements and institutions which have resulted in the upbuilding and development of one of the most prosperous com- munities of this part of the state.
GEORGE DANIELS. The well kept and productive farm of George Daniels lies in a fertile tract of Barkley Township, with the Village of Parr as his postoffice. Mr. Daniels has lived in Jasper County all his life, and by industry and close attention to business affairs has reached a position of substantial independence and has provided well for the family which has grown up around him and the mem- bers of which are now established in homes of their own with one exception.
It was on the old Daniels homestead in Jasper County that George Daniels was born February 16, 1850, a son of Shelby and Mary (English) Daniels, who in the very early days came to Western Indiana from Champaign County, Ohio, and secured a quarter section, 160 acres, direct from the Government, paying $1.25 per acre. That land is now highly improved and is worth many times its original cost. On the old homestead they reared a family of eight children named Martha, William, Ellen, Rody, George, Charles, Thomas and Harris. Of these sons the oldest, William, saw active service in the Civil war as a member of an Indiana regi- ment, and after the war came back to the old home farm, where subsequently he bought the interests of the other heirs. The father died in 1877, and the mother in 1876.
Reared in Jasper County during the decades of the '50s and 'Gos, and attending such schools as then offered their facilities to the growing children, George Daniels has made farming his regular vocation, and after leaving the home of his parents began by hard work to improve a place of his own. On March 13, 1879, he married Miss Mandy Ott. To their marriage have been born six children : Voida, deceased; Alonzo Roy; Walter; John and Ira. All these children are now married except Ira. Among the possessions which Mr. George Daniels prizes because of family associations is an old flint lock musket which originally belonged to his grandfather, and which is now nearly 200 years old. Mr. Daniels' father had occa- sion to use this same gun about 1861 or 1862 when there was re- ported to be a conspiracy among the rebel sympathizers in this section of Indiana to capture Rensselaer.
ROBERT ZICK. There is no more progressive citizen in Walker Township than Robert Zick, whose life has been spent here in the quiet and thrifty work of the agriculturist and a good citizen for
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more than half a century. ITis is a name that is respected for both what he is and what he has done, and it ineans much to any com- munity to have such earnest workers and public spirited men as Robert Zick among its citizens.
Though he was born in LaPorte County, Indiana, October 12, 1858, Robert Zick represents a family that previous to that time and only a few years later again became identified with Jasper County. The Zicks were among the pioneers here and many acres were turned by the plow for the first time under their guidance, and they were the class of people who did most to develop the early resources and reclaim them from the wilderness. His parents were Michael and Wilhelmina (Sauer) Zick. They were married about 1854 in Rensselaer of Jasper County, moved from there to LaPorte County, but in November, 1864, returned to Jasper County and settled in Walker Township. Here they acquired a tract of school land, direct from the Government, and a portion of that land has never passed out of the family name and is now owned and operated by Louis Zick. Michael Zick was in his time a very in- dustrious farmer and a man whose character and conduct were above reproach. He acquired a large amount of land, was hard working from boyhood until his later years, and could be depended upon to support public movements in his community. He was an active democrat and did much to support and maintain schools in his community and was a school director for a number of years. In church affairs he was a Lutheran. He was laid to rest in the Wheatfield Cemetery November 6, 1911, and his beloved wife was buried there March 11, 1907. In their family were five children : Gustie, Robert, Mildred, Allie and Louis, all of whom are married except Robert and Louis.
The children of this family were all reared in Jasper County, and they gained their education from schools which represented the typical standards of educational equipment at that time but were far inferior in every point to the modern school system of Jasper County. The school where Zick children learned their first lessons was held in an old log cabin, and was known as the Hershman School. It was about two miles from the Zick home, and the children walked back and forth every day during the school term, though the boys of the family were in regular attendance only during the winter seasons, their services being required at home for farm duties during the rest of the year. In this way Robert Zick grew to manhood and when about twenty years of age was practically inde- pendent and working for his own support. He was employed on his father's place, and still occupies a part of the old homestead. He is generally reputed to be one of the most progressive farmers in Walker Township. While doing much to keep his own farm up to the best standards, he has not neglected those public improve- ments which are of equal benefit to every citizen, and he was the
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leading petitioner and was chiefly responsible for the construction of the Zick ditch through his part of the township. He believes in any kind of public enterprise that will benefit future generations, and has already seen the fruitage of some movements which he started many years ago. Mr. Zick is unmarried. He is a democrat, was elected township trustee, and for a long number of years has been road supervisor in his district.
HON. WILLIAM W GIFMAN In the death of William W. Gil- man, which occurred November 12, 1910, Newton County lost one of its oldest and most honored citizens. Mr. Gilman came to New- ton County nearly half a century ago, was instrumental in develop- ing a portion of the wild land to the uses of cultivation, was very successful as a farmer, but is probably best remembered for his leading position in the republican party in Western Indiana and for his long record of official service.
Although he came to Newton County from Illinois, he was born in Essex County, New York, September 4, 1834. His parents were Hiram and Elizabeth (Palmer) Gilman, both of English descent, the former a native of Vermont and the latter of New York. Wil- liam W. was the second in a family of five children. Hiram Gil- man left New York in 1853, and after two years in Illinois moved to the northwestern frontier in Minnesota, and died in that state in 1868. His widow survived him, and subsequently resided in Dakota.
Of sturdy New York State stock, reared as a farmer boy and with such advantages as the public schools of his day and genera- tion could supply, and like many sturdy eastern boys, as soon as he reached his majority, he set out to find his fortune in the West. For seven years he lived in Minnesota Territory and State, and was there during the formative period of Minnesota's history. Before he was twenty-one years of age he had served as a road super- visor in Minnesota. From Minnesota he went to Illinois and lived in Kankakee County five years, and then in the fall of 1868 identi- fied himself permanently with Newton County, Indiana, locating in Grant Township. For several years he was a teacher both in Illinois and Newton County. In 1869 he bought a farm and there- after for a number of years was closely identified with agricultural enterprise and the many public duties to which he was called by choice of the people. He was noted for his liberality and his readi- ness to serve other interests than his own.
The first presidential vote he ever cast was for Abraham Lin- coln at the beginning of the Civil war period. In Newton County he became one of the strongest representatives of that party and was almost a dominant factor in political affairs for many years. Ile was seldom defeated as a candidate, and filled nearly all the offices within the gift of the people of his home township and county. He was elected trustee of Grant Township in 1870 and re-elected in
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1872, making four years in that office; was elected clerk of the District Court of Newton County in 1874; and then in 1880 went to the Legislature as joint representative from Newton and Jasper counties, and was re-elected in 1882. He proved a very valuable member of the Legislature. He was a student and a practical man of affairs, and originated and influenced much of the legislation adopted during those four years. In 1896, as a democrat, he suf- fered defeat in another campaign for the State Senate. He was affiliated with Lodge No. 445, Ancient Free and Accepted Masons at Goodland. He was very active in the Methodist Episcopal Church, he and his wife having been members of that denomination from the time of their marriage. Mr. Gilman was laid to rest in the Goodland Cemetery.
March 12, 1854, he married Miss Harriet C. Morse, daughter of William and Mary Morse of Essex County, New York. She was born December 18, 1835, and is still living at her home just south of Goodland at the venerable age of fourscore. A brief ree- ord of the nine children born to them is as follows: Minnie E., first married Douglas Adams, and is now the wife of Milton Werts- baugh and they live near Dustan, Nebraska. Their three children are named Leone, Edgar and Minnie. Hiram F., the second, and Merritt J., the third child, are both now deceased.
William Henry, the fourth in the family, was born January 21, 1862, and lives at Goodland. By his marriage to Sadie Turner, he is the father of five children named William F., May M., Edna F., Hope V. and Ruth F.
Frederick D., the fifth, also lives at Goodland. He has been twice married. His first was Lorena Wilson and his second wife Dora Wickwire. The children of the first marriage are Owen, Hazel, Wayne, Marian, Leona and Grace, and the one child of the present union is Merritt .:
Jessie C., the sixth in the family, first married John Lovett, by whom she is the mother of two children, Gladys and Leslie, and is now the wife of Frank Hitt, and lives in Chicago.
Nellie E., the seventhi child, married Albert Patton and of her five children the three now living are Owen, Fern and Crystal Pearl.
The eighth in the family is Jennie C., wife of Dr. O. H. Mohney and living in Goodland.
George W., the youngest, was born November 22, 1875, and married Maude Davidson.
JOIN ADE. Though in his sincere, earnest and useful life the late John Ade had no thought or desire to proclaim himself apart from the goodly company of the "plain people," yet the very texture of his individuality gave him definite facility for leadership in popu- lar sentiment and action, and his intellectual strength, his mental vigor and his high sense of personal stewardship made obscurity for him a thing in the realm of the impossible. He was one of the
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favored mortals whom nature launches into the sea of life with the heritage of a sturdy ancestry, a splendid physique, a masterful mind, and energy enough for many men. Planted in a metropolis, he would have used his talents in competing with and uplifting his fellow men. Established in a rural community, he used them in developing the things that the environment needed. John Ade was the type of a true gentleman and a representative of the best in community life, dignified and yet possessed of an affability that won him warm friends among "all classes and conditions of men." Ile was a positive force and a benignant force in all of the relations of a significantly long and worthy career, and the influence that he wielded made him one of the best known and most honored citizens of the county in which he so long lived and labored to goodly ends. He established his home in Newton County, Indiana, in the year that its organization was formed, and here he continued to maintain his residence until his death. Not too often or through the medium of too many vehicles can tribute be paid to this honored pioneer of Newton County, and it is gratifying to be able to present in this publication a brief review of his career, a memoir whose freedom from ponderous eulogy shall mark it as being in consonance with the personality of the strong, simple and kindly gentleman to whom it is dedicated.
John Ade was born in Sussex County, England, on the 21st of September, 1828, and was the oldest in a family of six children. He was a son of John and Esther (Wood) Ade, and he was a lad of about twelve years at the time of the family immigration to the United States, in 1840. A home was established near the City of Cincinnati, Ohio, and there the subject of this memoir was afforded advantages that supplemented the educational discipline which he had received in his native land. A sturdy and ambitious youth, he was soon found serving a practical apprenticeship to the trade of blacksmith, in which he became a skilled workman and to the work of which he gave his attention about five years. From 1849 to 1851 he presided with dignity over a toll gate near Cincinnati. In 1851 was solemnized the marriage of Mr. Ade to Miss Adaline Bush, of Cheviot, Hamilton County, Ohio, and in 1853 they removed to Iroquois County, Illinois. A few weeks later, however, they cstab- lished their home at Morocco, Indiana, a village that is now included within the environs of Newton County. This county was organized and duly constituted in the year 1860, and at the first election of officers in the new county Mr. Ade was elected county recorder, whereupon he removed to Kentland, which had been designated as the judicial center of the county. Of this office he continued the incumbent until 1864, when he was elected county auditor, a position of which he continued in tenure until 1868. These preferments indicate significantly the influential status of Mr. Ade in connection with the governmental affairs of the county during the early period of its history, and show alike that his was inviolable place in the
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confidence and good will of the people. Soon after his retirement from the office of county auditor the Discount and Deposit Bank of Kentland was organized, and he accepted the position of cashier of the same. He continued his effective service in this capacity for many years, and in 1875 he became one of the interested principals or stockholders of the institution, to the upbuilding of which he had contributed greatly. Though his well ordered activities in this connection and in association with other lines of enterprise, including farming, Mr. Ade became one of the substantial men of Newton County, and his public spirit was ever on a parity with his sure and appreciative stewardship in connection with civic and business affairs. His life was essentially one of service, and well has it been said that "he who serves is royal," for no other patent of nobility can cqual this. Without entering into the great white light of publicity. John Ade pursued his course toward the goal of all that is desirable and ennobling in life, concentrating his resources and lifting them into the sphere of worthy achievement. His fair fame rests not on the idea of mere financial success but upon the firm basis of work accomplished and honors worthily won. His character was the positive expression of a strong and loyal nature, and in studying liis clear-cut, sane, distinct character, interpretation follows fact in a straight line of derivation.
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